Letters to the Editor

In Spaaaace!

We will be completely connected, we won't have multiple computers. We'll have multiple PC's accessing a single server/computer unit. We may even, depending on the advent of Fiber Optics, completely lose the hard drive - save on mobile technology and backup.

- phoenixsflame

In Response to "Sound Off: Where Will We Be in 2020" from The Escapist Forum: If I put my pessimistic hat on, I think we'll all be fighting a war of survival while Western Civilization collapses by then. I'll take that hat right back off now, though.

Optimistic hat.

Crikey. When I think about how much videogames and technology have changed in the years I've been playing with them, it's almost impossible to predict where things may go. Anything is possible. Around the launch of PS2/XB/GC, I made an argument on the interweb that the hardware itself wasn't going to provide us with any new experiences, which I felt was pretty much unlike most other generational leaps in videogaming technology. I'm more confused by the issue with this generation.

Taking that forward, I think that hardware and technology implementation will pretty much lead the way, with the games themselves using that technology in new and exciting ways. It could be simple connectivity, it may be the convergence of interface types (glasses with HUDs and full body controls) or it could even be the realization of the Hollywood dream (holodecks). Whichever it is, I think the driving force will be immersion and intuitiveness; anything that gets in the way of the game, regardless what genre it is or what the aim is.

Ultimately, I hope that we actually get back to the purity of "old skool" gaming, but mixed with the technology of tomorrow.

- hitchhiker

In Response to "Sound Off: Where Will We Be in 2020" from The Escapist Forum: The future will bring a resurgence of the arcade, but in a different way. Experiencing something with others is obviously powerful - look how SSBM or MMOs can turn simple gameplay into a lot of fun. Maybe single player games will become less stagnant, and receive input from other players like Spore.

- wyrmwood

In Response to "Sound Off: Where Will We Be in 2020" from The Escapist Forum: I'm going to predict more of the same. With the net as it is I can't see people expecting something vastly different. Also my generation will grow up used to the net, and it will be what we expect, and what we'll be given.

Maybe teenagers will have something crazy and different, but we won't understand.

- bob_arctor